Note: I can only discuss these as they relate to
San Francisco,
USA. A
casual carpool is a non-
prearranged carpool, usually initiated by the
driver. Either there is a general meeting place where drivers and
passengers meet up, or the driver will "
cruise" the
bus stops/
BART stations looking for passengers. The advantage for drivers on the to-San Francisco drive are that if they can find at least two passengers, they qualify to drive in the
carpool lane, which is a lot faster going over the
Bay Bridge and other
bridges,
and they don't have to pay the bridge
toll. For the
riders, they get a much more
comfortable ride, usually
quicker, and it's
free. Basically a
win-win situation. Plus, you get to meet interesting people. I would love to do it again--there are some websites for such things, and I think there's some info at
transitinfo.org (carpool
hotlines, etc.).
The unusual aspect of the casual carpool is that you are riding with
strangers. I'm sure this would be a
bad idea in many places, but apparently it works just fine here. The driver this morning was a
wheelchair-bound 23-year-resident of the
Bay Area, and the other passenger a young man from
Zambia. We had a great time talking all the way into
SF.